Tag Archives: Terrorism Exception

The Seventh Circuit recently removed a significant obstacle to attachment or execution in terrorism cases.

Section 1610(c) provides that “[n]o attachment or execution referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be permitted until the court has ordered such attachment and execution after having determined that a reasonable period of time has elapsed following the entry of judgment and the giving of any notice required under section 1608(e) of this chapter.” 28 U.S.C. § 1610(c). In Gates v. Syrian Arab Republic, 755 F.3d 568 (7th Cir. 2014), the Seventh Circuit held that the limitations set forth in section 1610(c) did not apply to attachments in terrorism cases. In reaching that result, the Seventh Circuit focused on section 1610(c)’s express limitation to attachment or execution under subsections (a) and (b). Since section 1610(g) – the provision addressing attachment and execution in terrorism cases – “is not mentioned in section 1610(c),” the latter section “simply does not apply to execution or attachment under section 1610(g).” Gates, 755 F.3d at 575.

By recognizing that section 1610(c)’s limitations are inapplicable to attachment proceedings in terrorism cases, the Seventh Circuit properly adhered to the plain terms of the statute. The ruling should also serve the goal of helping to streamline attachment proceedings in cases involving terrorism.

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Alexis Haller is a trial and appellate attorney with over thirteen years of FSIA litigation experience. Mr. Haller has achieved dismissals in numerous FSIA actions, and has successfully represented a foreign head of state and foreign diplomatic agents.
Mr. Haller graduated from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1995 and obtained his juris doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 1998. He is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and California, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and various United States courts of appeals.